Is it possible to write to disk cd r. FAQ for CD-Recordable and CD-R Drives. What is the difference between CD-R and rewritable CD-RW disc?

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This document is complementary to the basic design and format description. audio CDs(CDDAFAQ) and descriptions of disks and CD-ROM drives (CDROMFAQ), which are recommended to be familiar with before reading this.

However, this type of media can be a good alternative to playing videos stored on your computer on television, backups and other media resources. Before doing this, however, you need to know the correct file and recording formats for each device.

Which file format should you choose? As for the file format, it is impossible to determine exactly best extension photos, music and videos, as each manufacturer decides what will work on their devices. Therefore, it is best to consult your player's manual before recording. However, there are formats that can be identified as the most common and that retain more or less detailed information.

What are CD-R, CD-E and CD-RW?

System of single (CD-Recordable - recordable CD) and multiple (CD-Erasable - erasable CD, CD-ReWritable - rewritable CD) CD recording. CD-RW and CD-E stand for the same thing - erasable and rewritable disc, and the name CD-RW practically supplanted CD-E. The terms CD-R, CD-E, and CD-RW refer to both the recording media and the discs themselves.

The biggest disadvantage is that it allows much less audio to be inserted onto the disc. Finally, recording video requires a little more care as there is a wide range of formats and their support can vary greatly from one device to another.

Burning Format After selecting the appropriate discs and file extensions, simply go to burn. When starting the copying process, you must select the "Wizard" option in the "Format Display Options" located on the same page on which the disc name is inserted. Be sure to select correct format disk.

For one-time recording, so-called "blanks" are used, which is a conventional compact disc, in which the reflective layer is made mainly of gold or silver film, and between it and the polycarbonate base there is a recording layer made of organic material that darkens when heated. During the recording process, the laser beam heats up the selected points of the layer, which darken and stop transmitting light to the reflective layer, forming areas similar to pits.

What do I need to burn discs?

To enable playback on your computer, double-click the purchased song and enter information about account with which the purchase was made. You can allow up to five computers.

• Internal drive capable of burning discs.
• If the device appears in the list, it means that it is compatible.

The number of tracks a disc can hold depends on the song file format and disc capacity.

From the very beginning, the development and production of burners has been a transformation of many companies, so it comes as no surprise that the user rating different models was more than controversial. On the Internet and on the street, all the legends about the reliability and abilities of the baker have been burned. The differences between individual brands are so fragmented to a great extent.

The same information structure is organized on CD-R as on stamped discs - TOC and a set of tracks different types... This makes it possible with the appropriate software record audio, photo and video discs, which can then be played in household audio and video players. However, the reflectivity of the specular layer and the clarity of the pits in CD-R discs lower than usual, which is why some devices may not work with them confidently.

If you follow a model from one of the renowned manufacturers, you can't go wrong. Other interesting features to look out for are disc mechanics with some copy protection. It is possible to copy protected discs with mechanic manufacturers in promotional materials, but you can find interesting information in detailed reviews or discussing fouls.

You can easily find tests online again. In both cases, however, be sure to buy special media. On the burning days of burning, not only burners were expensive, but also empty carriers. As a guide in assessing the quality of media, visual assessment of the transparency of the disc.

Rewritable discs use an intermediate layer of organic film that changes its phase state under the influence of a beam from amorphous to crystalline and vice versa, as a result of which the transparency of the layer changes. The fixation of state changes occurs due to the fact that the material of the recording layer, when heated above the critical temperature, passes into an amorphous state and remains in it after cooling, and when heated to a temperature significantly below the critical temperature, it restores the crystalline state. Existing discs can withstand thousands to tens of thousands of rewriting cycles. However, their reflectivity is significantly lower than stamped and single-shot CDs, which makes them difficult to read in conventional drives. To read CD-RWs, a drive with Auto Gain Control is formally required, although some conventional CD-ROM drives and consumer players can read them on a par with regular discs. The drive's ability to read CD-RW is called Multiread; early drives were labeled "CD-E Enabled".

It's strange how long this myth lasted all my life. There are only a few large manufacturers in the world that create an environment for brand name manufacturers as well as the media without a clear indication of origin. In the case of brands, there is also a frequent production of the manufacturer, so it is difficult to clearly assess the quality of different brands, this will require long-term testing. You can find unshaded shapes among both brands and non-branded mimes.

The main recommendations are pretty straightforward. In case of long-term storage of important data of high quality stains and surface finishes, you do not waste your time, you may regret it later. In extreme cases, look for high quality gold medals. But forget about disks against the light, forget about it.

A rewritable disc can have the same track structure and file system as a CD-R, or a special UDF (Universal Disk Format) file system can be organized on it, which allows you to dynamically create and destroy individual files on the disk.

What explains the different color of the working surface of the discs?

Various materials for the recording and reflective layers. As a recording layer for CD-R discs, the most common organic compounds known under the code names "cyanine" (Cyanine) and "phthalocyanine" (Phtalocyanine). Cyanine has a blue (cyan) color (from which the name of the material is derived, which has nothing to do with cyanides - a chemical derivative of hydrogen cyanide) and is characterized by average resistance to light irradiation and temperature changes. Phthalocyanine has a golden color and is much more resistant to external influences.

Today we have ultra-fast burners that don't care about us doing a lot of other things when burning with a computer at the same time, but they don't always pay off burning. When burning data at a burning rate too much, it is recommended to write down the rate at which the media is certified. However, it is wise to stick to the position when recording music. When listening to the hard disk, all the protection against malfunctions sounds.

It is difficult to say where the myth of the disgusting abilities of people lies in its origins, but it must be said that there is little truth about it. Nowadays, heartburn allows almost every burner. In the end they didn't mind magnetic field, direct contact with heavily soiled fingers with the recording surface and light scuffling.

Gold and silver are used as reflective materials, less often aluminum and alloys. Accordingly, the working surface of the disc with a reflective layer of colorless metal has the color of its recording layer, and the reflective layer of gold changes the color of cyanine from blue to greenish.

The organic layer of CD-RW discs is usually gray-brown in color.

Installing CD Burner XP

The discs should definitely not pay for the note on the table, they cannot go to their scams, and there is no need to take them from all sides. It is convenient to use storage cabinets, wardrobes and similar devices. Under no circumstances should discs be exposed to direct sunlight or high temperatures. A novelty in the protection against scratches and shear of the recording layer on the table is a system of small exits along the edge of the disc, which maintains contact between the recording layer and the substrate.

Next time we will say something about lost data, corrupted invalid interpreters. In the main topic of this edition, we offer advice on how to find products and shop in online stores. In the following articles, we will introduce you to a number of interesting devices... In the Mobile for All app you will find tips for winter mobile apps and phone-controlled robotic toys and tips on how to use your phone as a music player... Published in How, in particular, instructions on how to add video to your own story and music, to insert tables in presentations and how to use applications from CDs, find license keys installed programs and control what is happening on your computer.

How is a CD-R / CD-RW disc different from a stamped one?

First of all, these disks are made with an auxiliary markup (pregroove) in which a time grid (ATIP - Actual Time In Pregroove) is encoded, which simultaneously serves both for dividing the disk into frames (blocks) and additional information about the disk - codes, recommended values ​​of rotation speed and power of the recording laser. The markup is used to find the service and user areas of the disc and to facilitate tracking the information track during the recording process. When reading, tracking is performed, as usual, along the recorded information track.

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The best mobile apps for winter

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Besides, the disk contains two service areas: PCA (Power Calibration Area) and PMA (Program Memory Area), located inside from the "official" recording start radius. PCA is used to select the optimal laser power before each recording, and PMA is used to temporarily store the TOC in case of recording one session in several rounds.

In addition to the names of found applications and their associated license keys the program also displays the name of the registered user and the company name. The advantage of the program is convenient user interface and simple work. With this application, you can keep track of every movement of the user's computer, including all text typed on the keyboard, copied content from the clipboard, visited websites and applications running. In addition to text recording of all actions, the program also takes screenshots to give you an even better idea of ​​what is happening on your computer.

PCA and PMA are fixed-length tables with a capacity of 100 elements each, which limits both the total number of recording cases and the stages of forming open sessions.

The smallest unit of information recorded on a CD-R at a time is a track (track) in CD-DA or CD-ROM format. The minimum track length is 300 blocks (600 kb, 4 sec). At the beginning of each track, a service gap (pre-gap) is formed, containing its parameters, in the size of 150 blocks (300 kb, 2 sec) for tracks of the same type and 225 blocks (450 kb, 3 sec) for tracks of different types.

What is CD Recordable?

The main theme of the CD is the "Applications for Mobile Phones" section, which contains the collection useful programs for management mobile phones and tools. You can find the link and instructions in the magazine. The next issue is November.

Editing movies and slideshows

You will have to download the trial version and install it on your computer. Alternatively, drag and drop video files directly onto the interface. All common editing tools are provided to enhance your video. If the photos are imported together, they will automatically create a slideshow. Both have an "Edit" icon next to the title. Click here to open the video or slideshow window.

One or more tracks form a Program Area; which can be formed in several steps, between which the addresses and track parameters (TOC) are stored in the PMA. At this stage, only CD-R drives have access to the recorded tracks, since ordinary CD-ROM drives are not aware of PMA and require that the program area be framed with Lead-In zones (4500 blocks - 9 MB, 1 min) and Lead- Out (2250 blocks - 4.5 MB, 30 sec), as well as the presence of TOC in the Lead-In. The structure of Lead-In, Program Area and Lead-Out is called a session, and the process of recording Lead-In and Lead-Out around the data area is called closing the session.

Choosing file formats for recording

Just select the menu and customize it with background image, music and a few other options. In the player library, go to the recording tab. Step 4: Find the items in the library of the player that you want to copy to disc. Now drag items from the Details pane to the List pane to create a list of entries. You can drag an item up or down the list to move the item. If you want to remove an item from the entry list, click it right click mouse and select "Remove from list".

What designations are made on recordable discs?

How is CD-R and CD-RW recording done?

CD-R recording is performed using special programs- Easy CD, CD Creator, CD Publisher, Direct CD, etc. The process of recording one track is a single operation that cannot be interrupted, otherwise the disc will be damaged. To ensure the uniformity of the arrival of the recorded information to the laser, all drives have a buffer, the exhaustion of data in which (Underrun) leads to an emergency interruption of the recording. Exhaustion of data in the buffer can be caused by the launch of parallel processes, the operation of the virtual memory system (swapping), the seizure of the processor by "dishonest" device drivers, or freezing of a program or OS. Mechanical jolts of the drive also lead to recording failure.

Step 5: When you are satisfied with the recording list, click Start Recording. In fact, the disc will start automatically. If you have any questions, please contact our department. They only fit 30 to 74 minutes per page. They are covered with a very thin layer of aluminum, which contains voids and fields.

Popular manufacturers and their products

Thanks to them, digital reading and storage of data. On these discs, you can place not only digital sound, but also data. They are plated with silver, indium, antimony and tellurium.

Frequently asked questions before buying

Single sided disc with one layer of information 15.

There are two main modes CD-R recording: DAO (Disk At Once) and TAO (Track At Once). With TAO recording, the laser is turned on at the beginning of each track and turned off at the end; at the points of switching on and off the laser, a series of special blocks are formed - run-in, run-out and link, designed to connect the tracks to each other. The standard gap contains 150 such blocks (2 seconds). With DAO recording, the laser is on throughout the entire disc recording.

Double-sided disc with one information layer 15. One-sided disc with two information layers 15. Double-sided disc with two information layers 16. Optical disc copy protection 23. In these rapidly changing times, when we cannot imagine our life without various technologies, this is.

If the amount of information exceeds the limits of human perception, it must be recognized that constantly evolving computer technology works and that all information must be stored and used quickly and efficiently. An optical drive is a storage device that reads and stores data using a laser.

A disc recorded in one go is the most versatile and can be read by any CD-ROM with any file manager, however, after writing, it is impossible to add new data to the disc, and the DAO mode is not supported by all recording drives. This mode is also desirable for recording master discs for subsequent reproduction by stamping - most typical die-making machines only accept continuously recorded originals.

The DAO mode support implemented in the drive may not work with some combinations of the drive, its firmware, interface, interface drivers and recording program. If you know that DAO is supported in other combinations, you should try to update the firmware, change the drivers or the recording program.

In the TAO mode, multisession CD-ROM discs are written, allowing subsequent addition of data; it is also the easiest way to record CD-DAs with pauses between tracks. The session can be recorded in full at one time - with the formation of TOC, file system(for CD-ROM) and Lead-In / Lead-Out zones (recording with closing the session), or in several steps, with saving temporary TOCs in PMA elements (recording with leaving an open session).

The overhead for the first session is 11250 blocks (22.5 MB), for each subsequent session - 6750 (13.5 MB), and is manifested not in the limitation of the available space in the next session, but in its reduction for subsequent sessions. This means that all free blocks of the user area, without exception, can be occupied by a new session, but the number of free blocks after recording the session will be reduced by another 11250 or 6750. If this does not exhaust the user area, it will be possible to record additional sessions.

When a session is closed, a pointer to the free area of ​​the disk immediately behind the Lead-Out is written to its Lead-In, which makes it possible to add new sessions to the disk. However, according to the most universal CD-DA and CD-ROM standards, in order to read normally in all devices, the disc must be completely closed - in this case, a pointer to the free area is not created, and the disc becomes inaccessible for subsequent recording. The overwhelming majority of modern drives do not pay attention to the closedness of the disc.

Before you start recording, you need to create full list files included in the session; the subsequent addition of files to the disk is possible only in the form of additional sessions. CD-ROM drives that do not support multisession writing only read the first TOC (session) from the disc - therefore, they can only read files from the first session. Multisession CD-ROMs only read the last TOC, so the last session on a multisession disc should contain links to and from previous sessions in its table of contents. To do this, when recording the next session, the Import Track option is used to create a complete general table of contents. At the same time, directories with matching names are combined, as when appending to a regular disk. In any case, files are addressed within the entire disk, so only tables of contents are merged. Session files that were not imported during the creation of the next one will not be present in the resulting directory and normal access to them will be impossible, however, many CD-R writing programs allow you to selectively read individual sessions of the disc. The same can be done with one of the MSCDEX versions - MDCDEX, or Adaptec Session Selector (from the Easy CD Creator kit), subject to support from the drive.

Before starting the actual write process, the drive performs a laser calibration using the PCA area. Theoretically, there can be no more than 100 such calibrations, however, a number of modern drives write their model number in the PCA along with the parameters of the optimal recording mode, so that during subsequent operations on this disc in drives of the same type, the calibration will not be performed.

If the recording on a single multi-session disc was interrupted for any reason, in some cases it is possible to use the remaining free space disk. This requires a recording program that has the option to close the session (Close Track / Session), after which the necessary data is recorded by the next session without importing the interrupted session (previous sessions can be imported).

Since the final visibility of each file is determined by the TOC import process, it is possible to exclude individual files from the directory and selectively replace files with matching names. The old copy of the file remains on disk in one of the previous sessions, but a link to the new copy is placed in the new directory. Selective exclusion of files from previous sessions to the directory of the new session has the effect of "deleting" them. The visibility of files "deleted" in this way can subsequently be "restored" by importing them into new sessions.

For recording CD-RW, in addition to the session method, their preliminary formatting can be used - division into sectors, similar to magnetic disks. Once formatted, the CD-RW disc can be used like a regular removable disc — the standard file copy, delete, and rename operations are converted by the CD-RW drive driver in a series of overwriting operations on the disc sectors. This means that no special software is required to work with CD-RW discs, except for a UDF-enabled drive driver (for example, Adaptec DirectCD) and an initial partitioning program.

Some versions of recording software (eg CDR Publisher, WinOnCD from version 3.0, or Adaptec Easy CD Creator from version 3.0) allow you to burn bootable discs. To boot from such disks, the computer's BIOS must support this feature ( latest versions AWARD and Phoenix BIOS). The bootable part of the CD-ROM is written in the form of an image of a bootable floppy disk or hard drive, from which, when boot BIOS motherboard emulates drive A :.

How is audio CD recording done?

Audio discs (CD-DA) are recorded from a set of audio files in the RIFF WAVE format (extension .WAV), the file format is stereo, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz. Each file can be recorded on its own track (TAO mode), or all files can be recorded on one track (DAO mode). In TAO mode, due to the recording of pre-gap zones between tracks, physical gaps appear, audible as two-second pauses in the sound; in DAO mode, files are written end-to-end and produce continuous sound. Regardless of the recording mode, each file is made out in the form of a separate "audio track", the change of which is marked with the subcode Q, and the addresses are recorded in the TOC.

Since the track size is always a multiple of the frame size (2352 bytes), the sound files are rounded up to an integer number of frames by adding zeros (silence) at the end. In the case of continuous sound program obtained by cutting a large audio file into several parts and recording them in DAO mode, such rounding can lead to noticeable noise.

What is Packet Writing?

A CD-R or CD-RW packet writing system that allows you to quickly turn on and off the recording laser in the intervals between blocks, recording 7 linking blocks (2 - run-out, 4 - run-in, 1 - link) instead of the usual 150. This the system was introduced for CD-RW recording because its "sector" structure requires precise laser control to reduce pause overhead.

A packet write drive does not require a constant stream of data at the input - when the data in the buffer is exhausted, the laser is turned off, and when data appears, recording continues from the interrupted place with minimal loss in density. This technology eliminates disc damage as a result of the data stream lagging behind the write speed. However, this recording method does not prevent crashes due to drive jolts, system freezes, or power outages during recording.

With packet recording, one session of a conventional single-shot disc can be recorded in several steps; existing programs allow you to represent CDs under their control in the form regular disk, to which files are written by standard OS operations. This differs from DirectCD in that the recorded files cannot be renamed, changed or deleted. After the completion of the formation of the session, it is closed in the usual way.

Because there are gaps between blocks during packet writing, some CD-ROM drives may not read CD-Rs written with packet breaks.

Why might the files be too small to fit on the disk?

As with magnetic disks, information on CDs is written in blocks - usually 2048 bytes - and each file occupies an integer number of such blocks. On average, the additionally consumed volume is approximately equal to half of the block for each file, but this is precisely determined only at the stage of building the image. In addition, the total number of files, directories and the structure of their names affects the size of the table of contents area. Some programs (for example, Adaptec Easy CD Creator) calculate the required real size in advance (for this you need to wait until the optimization is complete, however, the total number of blocks may still not be entirely accurate), others are limited only to summing the file sizes, and when the data volume is close to the limit in on-the-fly recording mode, there may not be enough space on the disc and the disc may be damaged. In such cases, it is recommended to first build an image of the recordable disc. The number of blocks required to write an ISO image can be obtained by dividing the image size by 2048 for Mode 1 (CD-ROM) or 2352 for Mode 2 (XA), plus 300 blocks for Pregap / Postgap, plus another 2-5 blocks for minor inaccuracies.

Why is there noise when recording to a pure WAV audio disc?

One of the most common reasons is audio file headers and additional information in them. A RIFF (WAV) file contains a header and an arbitrary number of records (chunk) of different types, one of which (data) represents the actual sound data. Some sound editors (e.g. Cool Edit, Sound Forge series of reading programs audio tracks) place additional records with their service information in the file, however, a number of audio CD generation programs may assume that the audio data starts at a fixed offset from the beginning of the file, or always continues to the end of the file. As a result, service information gets to the disk in digital audio format and is reproduced as noise or clicks between tracks. To eliminate this phenomenon, it is necessary either to prohibit the sound editors from saving service information in the WAV file, or to remove it with the help of other programs so that only records of the "fmt" and "data" types remain in the file.

There are reviews of programs that write WAV files to disc along with the title, even if it contains only the necessary recordings. In this case, you can remove the headers from the files by converting them to "pure" PCM-format (RAW), when the sound occupies the entire file. However, programs that record WAV files together with a title should definitely be declared incorrect.

When audio tracks are in TAO mode, two-second pauses are formed between them using the P-subcode at the beginning and end of which there is an instant cessation and resumption of sound. If there is no complete silence at the beginning and end of the track, such a switch is perceived by ear as a click. Some combinations of recorder and program can also leave audio junk in the inter-track gaps by not fully capturing the P-code blank during the pause. Audio discs with continuous programs must be recorded in one session (DAO), and the connecting points of adjacent tracks must have zero sound amplitude.

One more possible reason- rounding of the size of the sound file to a full frame, which generates an instant cessation of sound, if the last samples of the file do not contain complete silence. Invalid write programs can leave the rounding section unzero, resulting in garbage. When recording continuous programs by cutting a large audio file, the size of the sound fragments should be chosen in multiples of the frame size (2352 bytes).

In addition to the above, interference on recorded audio discs may occur due to instability of the data stream in the CD-R (overflow of the internal buffer or interruption of the stream), deviations from the parameters of the recorded signal, laser operation or disc rotation speed, factory defects of the disc, and due to the fault of players unable to confidently read specific copies of discs. In the case of poor-quality recording of data discs, the situation is often saved by the large volumes of correction codes provided in CD-ROM formats.

How to copy a disc as accurately as possible?

It is best to do this either by direct frame-by-frame copying from disk to disk, or by first capturing the disk image to a file. The first method is faster, however, it requires two drives and is fraught with write failures in the event of reading errors and recalibration of the reading drive, the second is more reliable, it can be performed on one drive, however, it requires significant disk space (up to 650 MB for CD-ROM and up to 780 MB for CD-DA and other disc formats).

In the case of direct copying (for example, using Adaptec CD Copier, CDRWin 3.5 or other programs) of CD-DA or CD-ROM mode 2 discs, the positioning accuracy (for CD-DA) and error correction reliability (for both formats) come into play. ). Only drives capable of precise positioning and frame joining are suitable for exact copying of CD-DAs.

An intermediate disk image in a file can be obtained, for example, using the SnapShot program from the DAO package. Adaptec CD Copier does not allow creating an image in an "honest" way, however, when using one drive, it is formed in a specified directory as a .TMP file (ISO format), from where it can be renamed after the disc reading phase is completed.

Direct copy or copy-over-image allows you to copy bootable discs as well as a range of non-standard format discs. However, one should not confuse frame-by-frame reading of a disk image with its rebuilding, which is done, for example, by Adaptec Easy CD Creator by the command "Create Disk Image" - in this case, the TOC is re-formed and the files are placed on the disk, as a result of which the disk-copy will be coincide with the original only in content, but not in structure and format.

How to ensure sufficient write performance headroom?

Although performance headroom is really only needed when working with drives that do not support packet writing, too often switching the laser leads to increased overhead costs and accelerated wear of the optical system with packet writing.

To check the performance, most recording programs have test modes - simulating the complete recording process: either bypassing the access to the CD-R, or by switching the CD-R into a special test mode, in which it, like during recording, accepts data, but does not turns on the laser for recording. The first mode is available with any CD-R, but does not provide complete reliability, the second requires support from the drive and provides dynamics that are completely analogous to the recording process (up to writing lead in and lead out service zones, which is not simulated in test mode). Learn about support test mode in a CD-R is possible by querying its properties in the recording program.

With the drive supporting the test mode, it is best to run a series of tests beforehand, loading the system with various kinds of loads until the recording starts to interrupt - this will give a rough idea of ​​the available performance headroom. However, when replacing system components - both hardware and software, and even in different modes of operation (for example, with or without registration in the network), the behavior can change significantly.

When recording "on-the-fly", before turning on the recording laser, only the table of contents of the disc is formed, and the files being written are opened and read directly during the recording process. In the case of devices direct access with slow positioning (CD-ROM, magneto-optics, slow hard drives) and many small files, their opening speed may be insufficient. In the "on-the-fly" recording mode, it is desirable to have a significant (up to two times or more) margin in the average rate of input of the initial data.

If some source files in the on-the-fly mode are taken from the CD-ROM, you need to consider the possibility of it going into sleep mode when there are no calls, after which it takes a few seconds to start. For example, between the formation of the table of contents and the beginning of the recording of the data track on the disc, the lead-in zone is recorded for several minutes, during which regular calls to the CD-ROM are not made. In test mode, the lead-in zone recording may not be simulated, so even after a successful test, the recording may fail. Easy CD Creator, starting from version 3.01d, artificially maintains the activity of the CD-ROM during the recording process in order to prevent its spontaneous transition to standby mode, and from version 3.5a it simulates the recording of the lead-in and lead-out zones in test mode.

The most reliable recording mode is with the preliminary construction of a disk image (image), which is formed in a temporary file before recording is turned on, and then, as uniformly and consistently as possible, is transferred to the disk. In this mode, if there are no other reasons lowering the performance, practically no performance margin is required.

System performance can be reduced by:

• concurrently running applications, including system processes such as memory or disk optimizers, file servers, printers, databases, or Email hosted on the recording machine when accessed over the network;
• the presence of a passive connection to the network, in which received packets can trigger the triggering of system processes;
• or screen savers, which are automatically activated when the user is paused;
• excessive fragmentation of source disks, increasing the disk positioning overhead;
• flaw random access memory that causes pumping (swapping) to disk;
• dynamically changing the size of the file cache by the system; in the presence of speed-critical applications, it is recommended to set a constant size (System.ini file, section, MinFileCache / MaxFileCache keys, values ​​in kilobytes);
• frequent system interrupts - from a modem, mouse, printer and other devices;
• operation of other CD-ROM drives (in Windows 95 this is one of the most suboptimal subsystems) or floppy drives;
• finding the recording drive on the same cable with the device from which data (files or image) is received during the recording;
• inappropriate parallel port mode (SPP / Normal instead of EPP) for an external CD-R with an appropriate adapter;
• frequent and long recalibration of some models of hard drives.

If all the above reasons are eliminated, but the performance is still not enough, all that remains is to reduce the write speed.

If the static performance of the system is sufficient for the selected write speed, the process can still be disrupted by short-term data delays as a result of a system crash when starting programs, recognizing inserted floppy disks and CDs, rereading bad sections on the original media, in case of emergency termination of parallel programs, and etc. The safety margin in this case can be roughly estimated by the size of the CD-R buffer, dividing it by the write speed and getting the time for which the data stream can occasionally be painlessly interrupted.

How reliable is CD-R / RW discs versus stamped discs?

Since the reflective layer of CD-R / RW discs is usually made of gold and silver, which are less oxidized than aluminum in most stamped discs, they tarnish more slowly than normal discs. However, the CD-R / RW recording layer material is more sensitive to light and is also susceptible to oxidation and degradation. In addition, the recording film is in a semi-liquid state and therefore sensitive to impacts and deformations of the disc - for example, to its kinking when removed from the box. The most optimistic estimate of the lifetime of phthalocyanine-based discs is about 100 years, however real numbers for most modern discs (cyanine and other materials) is much lower. An approximate estimate of the longevity of an average CD-R based on mass statistics - about two to three years or more with careful handling and about a year - with intensive use in combination with rough handling (knocks, kinks, exposure to heat, moisture, bright light, etc. .). For well-made and recorded discs with full compliance with the storage and operating conditions, the lifetime is estimated at at least 10 years.

Where can I find software, drivers, and CD-ROM information?